Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park

Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park is the single administrative area covering two things most visitors experience separately: the free mainland beach at Noppharat Thara near Ao Nang, and the fee-paying island group of Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Le, and Bamboo Island offshore. Established in 1983 and covering roughly 388 sq km, it’s the park office and the 400 THB landing fee that tie the two zones together — not a single place you visit.

The park headquarters sits at the northern end of Noppharat Thara Beach, 79 Moo 5, and is the point of contact for permits, fee questions, and conservation updates (phone 0 7566 1145). It’s also where the park’s least-known feature turns up: a shell fossil cemetery at nearby Ban Laem Pho, layers of limestone packed with freshwater snail fossils dated to roughly 75 million years old. It’s a quiet, five-minute stop rather than a destination in its own right, but it’s genuinely unusual — one of only a few such sites recorded anywhere. Beyond that, the mainland zone is largely the beach itself; the marine scenery people come for — the karst cliffs, Maya Bay, the reefs — sits an hour or more offshore on Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Le, each covered on its own page.

The fee structure is what actually separates this from a normal beach day: walking onto Noppharat Thara costs nothing, but stepping off a boat onto Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Le, or Bamboo Island triggers the national park charge — 400 THB for foreign adults, 200 THB for children, 40/20 THB for Thai nationals. Most organised day tours from Ao Nang, Railay, or Krabi town fold this into the ticket price rather than collecting it at the pier.

Insider Tip: If your interest is really the shell fossil cemetery or the park office itself rather than the islands, you can see both in under an hour without booking a boat — it’s a free add-on to any Ao Nang or Noppharat Thara beach day.

Watch out: Overnight camping at Maya Bay and Bamboo Island has been prohibited since 2016 as part of the reef and beach recovery closure — don’t plan an island camping trip based on older guidebooks or blog posts.

Longtail boats and speedboats to the islands depart from Ao Nang, Railay, and Krabi town, with crossings from around 45 minutes to two hours depending on the departure point. November to April brings the calmest seas; the park itself stays open daily 08:00-17:00 year-round.